Leslie Karst’s Sally Solari foodie mystery series are spiced just right to tempt readers back for second helpings, with razor sharp plotting, a vibrant Santa Cruz setting, and the bonus of some great recipes! Hi there I’m your host Jenny Wheeler, and today Leslie talks about Murder from Scratch, the fourth book in what she calls her “snarky cozies.” Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode: Why Leslie is passionate about Santa Cruz What the law taught her about mystery writing Her culinary obsessions Her not-so-secret song-writing life Dividing time between Hawaii and California Why she loves Chicks On A Case Where to find Leslie Karst: Website: http://lesliekarstauthor.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lesliekarstauthor/ Twitter: @ljkarst What follows is a “near as” transcript of our conversation, not word for word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions. Jenny: Hello there, Leslie, and welcome to the show. It’s great to have you with us. Leslie: Hi, Jenny. It’s so great to be talking from halfway around the world, from California to New Zealand, it’s really fabulous. Jenny: That’s right. We’re joined by the Pacific Ocean. Leslie: Exactly. Leslie Karst – Combing two passions – writing and food – in the Sally Solari mysteries Jenny: Look, was there a Once Upon A Time moment when you decided you wanted to write fiction as distinct from other things you might have been writing? And if so, was there a catalyst for it? Leslie: You know, I’ve always been fascinated by words and language, since I was a little kid, but I never actively planned to be a writer. But somehow I ended up writing for most of my life as a college student. I was a literature major, so I wrote a lot of papers about literary criticism. And then after I graduated, I dabbled in poetry. And in my angst ridden 20’s, I moved over to writing songs for a couple of bands. I had a new wave band in the 80’s and then later in the 1990’s, I had a country rock band called Electric Range that I formed with my sister. A change of pace And then after that, I went on to law school and I became a lawyer. And I spent 20 years writing research, memory memos and appellate briefs. So there it was. At the time I was ready to retire as a lawyer, I realized writing must be in my blood. So I said, I’m going to have to continue writing. But at that point, I decided I wanted to do something new. And that’s why I decided to go to fiction. Completely different from legal briefs, certainly. Jenny: So you’ve now written four books, a Sally Solaris mystery series that’s a culinary series, set in a restaurant and features a lot of food. I just wondered two questions, really. Why did you choose mysteries as your genre and how did you come upon the culinary theme for them? Obsessed with taste and texture Leslie: Well, as I said, when I decided to switch to fiction, I settled on mysteries, partly because I’d read them a lot is that when I was younger. But I also realized that crafting the twists and turns of a murder mystery, is not that different from the detail-oriented work that one employs when you’re drafting a legal brief. And it turns out I was right about that. So that’s why I went to the mysteries. Plus, come on, they’re fun. Everybody likes the food aspect. You know, I’ve been obsessed with taste and the texture and the presentation of food ever since I was a kid. And as a result, I ended up going to culinary arts school while I worked as a lawyer and I got a degree in that. And guess which I liked better? Italian style in Santa Cruz And so when I decided to try my hand at writing a mystery novel, it seemed like a no-brainer that it had to involve food and cooking. I just had to. I was into food. Mysteries are popular. So I thought, OK, I can combine these two and have a really a good time. Jenny: Yeah, that’s right. Now, Sally’s restaurant is an old style Italian eatery in Santa Cruz and I think that combines another couple of threads of your story. It’s obvious you love Santa Cruz. You’ve been praised for the very deep sense, of place that the books have. And also, I wonder if there is some Italian in your own heritage? Leslie: Well, I’ll start with that first. I had my DNA tested a few years ago, and I was sorely disappointed to learn that, no, I have no Mediterranean blood in me at all. I so wanted to do so. But Santa Cruz has a lot of Italians in our community. And so what happened was, okay, I moved to Santa Cruz from the Los Angeles area back in the 1970’s to attend the university here, and the town was and still is completely magical for me. What Leslie loves about Santa Cruz I mean, we have these glorious coastlines and redwood forests and we have this rich history of agriculture and fishing and and and now a really vibrant visual and performing arts culture. Not to mention, of course, fabulous farmer’s markets and charcuterie and cheese makers and bakeries and breweries and distilleries and restaurants. Santa Cruz scene – Anand Dandekar in Pexels Perfect for me. You can tell I love Santa Cruz. And so I think of the books as sort of a love letter to my town. And I also think of the town as another character. So when I set out to write the books, I knew they had to take place in Santa Cruz and I didn’t want to make it a fictional town. I wanted to make it real because I love the city so much. Sometimes it causes problems, but mostly it’s fun, you know, walking around and getting inspired to use places in it. There’s a little story of how I came to use the town in the series. I’d come up with this idea to write this culinary series set in Santa Cruz. And when I first moved here in the 70’s, it was still kind of a sleepy little town. How Santa Cruz changes The university was new. There were a lot of Italian fishermen, as I said, and farmers and also retired people. But then with the university coming in, in late 60’s, the town started to attract a whole new sort of inhabitants. And so we got students and hippies then later on, hipsters and techies, because we’re right next to Silicon Valley. And so at the time, I was trying to come up with ideas for my series. The food revolution had descended full force upon the town by then. And one day I was wandering down our historical Fisherman’s Wharf. And I had this idea. What would happen if, a local Santa Cruz gal who was from one of these traditional Italian fishing families, found herself caught between that old world and the newly arrived politically correct food movement. Old and new mixed together And I thought, yes, that would be the perfect backdrop for a culinary mystery, because it’s always good to have a little bit of tension in the background. So that’s where I came up with that. Jenny: And that’s great because it leads very nicely into talking about your first book, which was called Dying for a Taste. Right? And you had quite a lot of fun with California and Holy Cows like site sustainable and organic farming and and the Chez Panisse type of restaurants. And I can say now that you’ve explained the background, where that would come in, that there’s two worlds meeting. Did you give a kind of reaction from the foodies to that? Leslie: Yes. Well, it’s a good question, because, you know, I write. It’s a light mystery that I see as falling somewhere between the cozy and the traditional. I call them ‘snarky cozies.’ And, you know, when you’re writing that style of book, you have to be careful not to come across as being too preachy or pedantic. I mean, I guess that’s true for any book, nobody wants to be preached to. Death al Fresco – Leslie Kartst Food politics good fodder But the food movement, and this conflict is still a big part of our of the dynamics of our town. And so I did my best. I wanted to include it. I wanted to make the book realistic. But I did my best to make sure that aspect of the story didn’t overwhelm it, That it’s more of spice, if you will. Yes. A glimpse into the real life conflicts, but without coming across too heavy handed. I’m happy to say that in general, actually across the board, the reaction has been positive. I’ve never had anybody criticize the books on that basis. So I guess I succeeded. Jenny: That’s good. And you’ve mentioned already your band Electric Range. Sally is also an enthusiastic member of a choral group at one stage. And that’s quite a lot of music in the books. And the last book, there’s a lot of references to jazz. Is that a little bit of art imitating life again, because as you mentioned, you’re a singer songwriter. And I think Electric Range is still recording, isn’t it? Leslie the singer-song-writer Leslie: No, but alas, no.I can see why you think that, because I just recently posted the CD we recorded on my author web site, www.lesliekarst.com. There is a page of me being a songwriter and there’s a link to a place where you can listen to a part of that album that we recorded in the 1990’s. And you can buy the CD if you like. Which is fun, because I want to get it out there. I’m very proud of the music, but we broke up in the late 90’s and and I haven’t written any songs since then, but I do sing. I switched from doing rock and roll country to singing alto in my local community chorus, partly just because it’s a lot easier. You don’t have to lug around heavy equipment and microphones and set them up. You could just show up and sing. And I’d studied classical music as a youngster. Singing the masterworks It’s fun to sing the great masterworks like Beethoven. And it’s huge. We sing with our local symphony sometimes and it’s really a lot of fun. But yes, I love music. I grew up on it and there is a quite a bit of music in my books. Yes, especially in the second book where Sally joins a chorus, but a little bit in all of them. Jenny: In the last one the jazz aspect of it becomes part of the plotline at one stage. So what do you enjoy most about writing now? How long have you been a full time writer? Leslie: I retired from a law about 10 years ago and I started writing immediately after that. It took several years to get an agent and then a publisher. So I’d say about ten years. But the first book didn’t come out until it’s been, what, six years? Five years, something like that. Dialogue is the best fun Jenny: Yes. What do you enjoy most about it? Leslie: You know, I’d just say I like writing dialogue the most, which I know a lot of people find very difficult, but it comes easily to me. As I said earlier, I have been obsessed with language my whole life. I’ve studied foreign languages. I love grammar. And so I love listening to people’s conversations around me. And I pay attention to their phrasing and their accents, their use of vocabulary. And when I’m writing dialogue, I just imagine that person and what they would sound like and how they would speak. And for me, that’s just a great joy. I love that. Unlike plotting, which is very, very difficult. That’s the hardest part.. An organized creative Jenny: Do you do a full outline before you begin writing? Leslie: I try to. Often they change on me. I once even had my murderer change on me midway through the book, which was rather disturbing. But yes, I try to plot out as much as I can. I’m an organized kind of a brain and doing the seat-of-the-pants thing I would find very stressful. Jenny: I saw somebody refer in a review to you as a polymath. I had to actually look it up. Do you think you are a polymath? Leslie Karst Dying for a Taste culinary mystery Leslie: Oh, I have a lot of interests. It’s true. I’m a curious person. I’m what they call a ‘lifetime learner’ at our local community colleges. I’m always taking classes and learning different things. So I’m not an expert in too many things, but I do have a lot of a lot of different interests and I do put them in the books, because why not? It’s fun. And so I think Sally comes across that way as well. Murder From Scratch Jenny: That’s right. In your most recent book, which is Murder from Scratch, you’ve got a important secondary character, Evelyn, who’s Sally’s blind cousin, who comes to stay. And I thought you did that character beautifully, because you do really get a very tactile sense of what it would be like to be blind. I wondered how much research you did for that part of the story? Leslie: Yes, I had to. So what happened I was spending an afternoon with a blind friend several years ago, and I was struck by how easily he was able to locate whatever he needed. You know, ajar of marmalade in the fridge and so forth. He wanted to play a CD for me and he had all these CDs lined up against his wall and he ran his finger down them and he pulled one out and he put it on the CD player. Researching blind accomplishment It was exactly the one he wanted to play for me. It was a Tchaikovsky piece and I was amazed. I asked how did you do that? He said, well, you know, I’m just organized. And it immediately hit me. Oh, my goodness. First of all, how much more reliant on their other senses a blind person has to be to get along in the world. And I’d never really thought about it in that way before. How organized you’d have to be in your life, compared to somebody like me who can we just rely on their vision to get by? And then I realized what a perfect setup that would be for a murder mystery, to have a blind character who by virtue of her heightened sense of touch knew things the others didn’t. I’m glad you focused in on the touch, because that was part of it. But how that person would be able to maybe discover clues that the sighted sleuth would miss. The secret theme behind Sally And so that’s why I created Evelyn. She helps Sally with solving her mother’s murder. I’m going to add something here. You might you probably never notice this unless I told you. But for me, it’s fun. Each of my books, in addition to being mostly about food and murder, go together so well. But they each have one of the different senses is a backdrop for them. And so the first one is obviously taste. And then the second one where she joins the chorus, is hearing.The third one, where Sally becomes interested in painting because the restaurant she’s inherited is named after Paul Gaugin, is sight. And then this most recent one it’s the sense of touch. So Evelyn’s sense of touch helps Sally solve the murder. So it’s just kind of a fun thing for me to play with. BBQ Chicken with Dijon Basalmic glaze – – one of Leslie Karst’s recipes. Yummm! Recipes come with every story Jenny: So what are you going to do for Book Five? Leslie: Book Five is the sense of smell. Yes. And oh, I’ve actually never answered your question about the research and I’ll get back to that. But the is the sense of smell. And on the very first page, Sally wakes up and discovers that a sinus infection that she’s been fighting off for the last couple of weeks has caused her to lose her sense of smell, which, of course, for somebody who is a cook in a restaurant and loves food as much as her is horrible. And so it’s actually a lot about the lack of this sense rather than the sense itself. It’s a background to the novel. Yes, I’m more than halfway through writing that book. Anyway, getting back to the research for the blind character. So once I decided to do this, I called this guy up and I said, can I come and spend a couple of days with you and just tag you around? I want to write this book and I want to have a blind character. And he said, yeah, that’d be great. He was really excited. And he lives in Ohio. Learning by watching So I flew out to Ohio and spent a couple of days with them. And it turned out he and his wife rent a downstairs room to another to a blind guy who’s 30, who’s closer to the age of my character and the two of them were so gracious and lovely to me. And they let me follow them around and watch them and see how they live their life. And the gal who lives downstairs, in fact, she wanted to cook dinner for me and I got to watch her cooking. So you’ll see in the book that Evelyn loves to cook and that’s based on actually watching this gal do that. I could never have written the book if it weren’t for their generosity and the generosity of other people that I would call up and say, can I ask you questions about what it’s like to be blind? And then I had those people also read the book. So I really wanted to get it right. I didn’t want to blow it. And I’m happy to say that people generally been very pleased with my portrayal of Evelyn. A Sally Solari cookbook one day? Jenny: Yes, it’s lovely. I was impressed about the cooking too, because I’ve never thought about that side of things, to be honest. So I did wonder, have you got any plans for a Sally Solari cookbook? Because every book does also give some wonderful recipes for those who might be interested in having a little additional bonus to the story. Leslie: Yes. Each book has four or five different recipes that are drawn from the books themselves. And that pasta recipe is in Book Five. And it’s based on an Italian grandmother of an Italian friend of mine, that’s where I got that recipe from. I’ve got what, four books now with about 20 recipes. So I don’t have enough for a book at this point. But you know, if somebody said they want me to write a recipe book. Give me a call. It would be fun. But no, there’s nothing in the works – but I’m open to it! Pasta isn’t difficult Jenny: And I presume you’ve obviously made all the dishes that you feature? Leslie: Oh, absolutely. Well, all the ones that I wrote recipes for, because I have to. I mean, you have to measure. I’m not somebody who measures, you know. I’m not a pantser for writing, but I’m definitely a pantser for cooking. I just add things and taste and go. And so when I have to come up with the recipes, I have to sit down and measure everything and write it down and then redo it if it’s wrong until like it. Because, you know, you can’t write a recipe like that. Oh just add a little of this till it tastes right. You can’t do that. But yeah, it’s fun. Coming up with the recipes is really fun. And as I write the book, each book, they each are in a different season. And so I have lists of seasonal vegetables and seafood and things like that. Leslie Karst – A Measure of Murder Choosing the recipes And I’ll get inspired. I’ll read it and go, oh, these are in season and I’ll come up with recipes in my head. And then have them be the recipes that she serves at the restaurant. And then of course, then once I’m come up with the recipe, then I have to settle down and really make it. I love that part of it. It’s really fun. Jenny: And you really do make your own pasta? Leslie: Oh, Yes. It’s actually way easier than it looks. It’s not that difficult. It’s a little bit of practice just so that you don’t overwork it. Kind of like making a pie crust. But yes, you can do it really quickly. And it’s so, you know, if you buy the good pasta in the grocery store, it’s so expensive. And you know, if you make it yourself up, it costs nothing. It’s just all it is is eggs and flour. And if you have you read the recipe in the book, I go through step by step how to do it. What the law taught Leslie Jenny: Oh, that’s wonderful. That’s wonderful. Turning to you, and your career, Leslie, tell us a bit more about your life before full time writing You mentioned you worked in the legal profession. What did you specialize in there and how has that influenced your writing? Leslie: Well, I worked as a research and appellate attorney, which means you spend all your days in the law library researching the case and facts and the law and then writing briefs. So I read a lot of appellate briefs and I read a lot of research memos. It’s kind of like writing a term paper every day of your life. And in it, actually, you know, it’s funny, I hadn’t originally thought this, but the more I thought about it, I realized that it really was a good preparation for becoming a mystery writer, because one of the most important components of writing a good mystery, obviously, is the story. Right? Red herrings and fair reporting How you set it up, how you place your clues and your red herrings, how you characterize your protagonist and your suspects. And your villain, of course. And the same is true in the law. So, like in a mystery story, in the law how you set forth the facts of your case in a legal brief is really important. You have to decide which facts to include and which to leave out. Obviously, you can’t leave out really important facts. There’s an ethical component to consider. And so you can’t leave out a fact just because it might be harmful to your client. But how you present the facts, you’ve got a certain amount of leeway with that. And that’s obviously true in a mystery novel. It’s unfair to leave out information for the resolution of your mystery just because it might make it easier to guess. Telling the story important And so they are similar. And then also another important part of a legal case is how you tell the story. Which elements do you emphasize and what do you play down, which obviously is similar to how you employ red herrings, in a mystery. And then there’s your voice and your readability. But then, as with any great novel, an attorney drafting a brief wants the judge to be drawn to the story until you care about it. So it ended up that it actually was, I think, a really good preparation. I would have never thought that. But, you know, I’m very organized and detail oriented. And of course, like me, my character Sally is an ex-attorney. So I get to use a little bit of that law in the books, too She’s able to use her knowledge of wills and probate and trust sometimes in helping solve the cases. So I actually I think being a lawyer really was a great preparation for being a mystery novelist. I’m not saying go to law school is preparation for that because it puts a lot of work and effort. But it helped me. Definitely. Perseverance ‘No 1 thing’ Jenny: Were any of the cases that you write about actually murders or were they more sort of in-depth things on rather more dry areas of law? Leslie: The firm I worked for was a civil firm. And so I didn’t do murder cases. Actually during law school I did do an internship with the local public attorney, the public defender. So I did do some criminal cases, but I never personally worked on a murder case. Nope. Thank goodness. How hard it would be to think about at night? Jenny: Yes. That’s right. Is there one thing you’ve done more than any other that is the secret of your success? I think perseverance is the number one thing that I’ve done. There are there are so many people out there that are write beautiful manuscripts. That are great writers and have great talent. But a lot of people, they get to a certain point in their manuscript and they get stuck and they can’t finish it. You just have to keep going and work your way through it and finish the darn book. Just keep on keeping on And then once you’ve got this manuscript, you have to hone it and rewrite it. And then, if you do the route I did, which is to try to get a traditional publisher, you have to shop it to agents and publishers and keep going after dozens or maybe hundreds of rejections. And so I know, that I do have perseverance and follow through. And so I kept going. I had over 100 reactions from agents before I finally got signed with one. And I just kept going. I got discouraged, but I just kept going. And I think, yes, that’s it. That’s my advice to people. If you truly believe in yourself, keep going. Keep doing it. Jenny: I guess that when you were published first, just a bit less than a decade ago, the indie publishing field was a lot different from what it is today. But are you happy with your decision to be traditionally published? Leslie as reader Leslie: Yeah, I think I am, because even though, you know, there used to be sort of a stigma about being independently published, which doesn’t exist at all anymore, I just didn’t want to do the work. I didn’t want to come up with the cover. And I didn’t want to do the work of formatting, the manual scripting. I’m just not interested in that. So having somebody else do that for me was wonderful. And that’s the main thing. I think actually these days you make more money if you publish independently because you get a bigger cut of your book. But no, I’m glad I went the traditional route. Jenny: It is a tremendous amount of extra work. There’s no doubt about that. Look. Turning to Leslie as reader, we called the series The Joys of Binge Reading, because it’s predicated a little bit around this idea of the growing popularity of series. People discover one book and want to read the rest of the series. Who do you like to read and who have you binge read in the past? A lineup of favorite authors Leslie: Well, you know, I guess I’m kind of old school because my favorite mysteries are those from the Golden Age. People like Dorothy L. Sayers and Agatha Christie and Josephine Tey. Because that’s who I was reading when I was a teenager in college. But I also adore Sue Grafton, her series actually was kind of an inspiration for me to start writing because it was sort of a blend of traditional series, like I was saying, like Agatha Christie. But they’re also a little more hard edged, a little more snarky, shall I say. So she inspired me. I thought I want to write a character like Kinsey, so she definitely was an inspiration. But as for current writers? Well,OK. I’m going to give a shout out for my fellow gals in Chicks On The Case. I have a group blog. with these wonderful people,and I adore all of their books and I recommend them to everybody. They are: The Chicks On The Case blog Ellen Byron, Becky Clark, Marla Cooper. Vickie Fee. Kellye Garrett. Cynthia Kuhn.Lisa Q. Mathews. and Kathleen Valenti. They are all just fabulous writers. All of them have series. Every time they have a book, and there’s a lot of them, I read their book. So I spend a lot of time reading those. The blogs called Chicks on the Case. They’re all mystery writers. Between cozy and traditional and they all have a certain amount of humor in them. And the blog is really fun. We post three times a week. We take turns doing our own blogs and then we have guest authors as bloggers. And then we also have guests who are involved in the mystery writing community, such as editors and and other bloggers. And we’ve had agents. So, yes, it’s pretty fun. I like it a lot. Joining the tribe Jenny: Well, that’s great. Are you a member of any other writer organizations? Do network with authors? Leslie: Absolutely. I joined Sisters in Crime back before I even finished my first manuscript and I found that organization to be invaluable. So much of the mystery writing community is so helpful and generous and warm. I couldn’t believe how great people were giving you advice and reading your work if you want them to. And so I recommend Sisters in Crime for anybody who’s interested in writing crime fiction. And I’m also now a member of Mystery Writers of America. Jenny: We’re starting to come to the end of our time together. So circling back and looking over your career at this stage, if you were doing it all again, is there anything that you would change? What she’d change – or not Leslie: You know, I can’t think of a thing. I’m pretty happy with what’s happened to me. I guess that’s good, right? Very good. I get it. I can’t think of anything that I would change. Jenny: No, it’s lovely. So what is next for Leslie, the writer? Have you got some projects in the oven, so to speak? Leslie: I do. I mentioned that I’m about more than halfway – closer to two thirds of the way – through the Sally Solari mystery # 5, which I mentioned earlier, where she she wakes up with her lack of ability to smell. That actually happened to me once, so I’m able to draw on my own experiences. Thank goodness mine came back. But, you know, I actually have something completely different going on right now as well, which I’d be happy to tell you about. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg – a coming Leslie Karst memoir Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg I had the good fortune about a little over 10 years ago to cook dinner for a Supreme Court justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was a colleague of my father’s who was a law professor back in the 60’s. And then they remained friends and colleagues over the years. And so I actually ended up writing a memoir of that experience, which is called Cooking for Ruth. And my agent is currently shopping that memoir. So I hope to get that published sometime in the not too distant future. I’m really excited. It’s about the law, and obviously about Justice Ginsburg, but it’s also very much about cooking. And so it’s kind of combining my different interests. So I’m very excited about that. Jenny: That’s great fun. I saw the movie, one of the movies – on her just in the last six months, and it was fantastic. Leslie: Is she known down in New Zealand? Is she as well known there as she is in the United States? Jenny: Perhaps not quite to the same extent, but certainly, there’s a group of people who really know of her and admire her. Most definitely. Yes. Leslie: Right. Good to hear it. I’ve been in touch with her lately because my father passed away in April and so we’ve been corresponding and she’s still doing really well. That’s something I’m glad to tell you. It’s wonderful. Hawaii here I come Leslie: You split your time between California and Hawaii, I believe. So tell us about that part of your life. How does that work together? Leslie: Well, My wife and I started going to Hawaii back in the early 90’s because my mother and father loved the Big Island of Hawaii. They spent a lot of time there and we started visiting them there. And we ended up buying a house together on the Big Island. And now that I’m retired from being a lawyer and Robin retired from her job, we started spending half the year there. Big Island – Leslie Karst’s second home Sharing the good life So we spend our our winters and spring – or late fall through to early spring in Hawaii because we have such cold and miserable weather here in the winter in California. I know you all feel really sorry for me. And the rest of the time I’m here in Santa Cruz. As far as affecting my writing, it doesn’t. I can write anywhere. You know, that’s not a problem. So, yes, I write in both places. Jenny: It’s rather like the Canadians fleeing to the south isn’t it? Leslie: Exactly. Jenny: So it’s been wonderful talking. Leslie, I gather you are active online interacting with your readers. You get quite a bit of reader feedback? Where to find Leslie online I do. Yes, a lot. I blog with The Chicks on the Case. And it’s really fun when people post comments and we can comment when you interact that way. And I also have a web site. www.lesliekarstauthor.com There’s a contact form on the website. If you type a message in the contact I get that as an email and I love corresponding with people. If anybody ever wants to write me an email, I always will write you back. And I’m on Facebook, of course, which is a lot of fun. So, you know, I know a lot of people hate the social media stuff, but I actually think it’s quite fun. I like posting pictures and chatting with people. Jenny: What kind of feedback is common? Leslie: You know, probably the number one thing I get is people write and say, I got so hungry reading your books, I had to stop and go make lunch. That’s great. I love that. I must admit, I get hungry writing. Sometimes I’ll be in the middle of a scene and I have to get up and fix myself something. So you’re not alone. What the future holds Jenny: That’s wonderful. And so just getting back to Sally for a moment. Number Five is going to be coming out soon? Leslie: I don’t know , I’m still finishing it. I hope next year. It is going to be a Number Six. I hope so. I have actually a part of a manuscript that I intended to be one of the second or third one where Sally goes to Hawaii. I’m hoping that that will be Number Six. But we’ll see. It’s all very much up in the air. But if things go as I hope that will be Number Six. Yes. Jenny: And of course, you can’t give anything away, but there’s a definite feeling that something’s going to develop with Detective Vargas. Does anything heat up in the next book with that? Giving away nothing! Leslie: Well, you know, maybe. You’ll have to wait and see. Jenny: I love that line with Eric, her ex who wanted to get back together again. And she’s prevaricated, not sure about it. And then as soon as he starts to show interest elsewhere, she gets a little bit pippy about it. So, yes, it’s really quite nice. Leslie: Isn’t that the way life always goes. Jenny: Exactly the way life goes. Leslie: Yes I like to keep it under wraps. Yes. I’m keeping everything in the hopper. That’s great. Wouldn’t want to give anything away. No. Jenny: Okay. Leslie. It’s wonderful to have chatted and I’ll make sure that all of those links get put into the show notes for the other mystery writers. So it’s easy for your readers to find you. Thank you so much for your time today. Leslie: Thank you so much. Jenny, I’m so honored to have been invited to be part of your fabulous, fabulous blog and podcast. So thank you so much. Jenny: That’s wonderful, Bye now. Leslie: All right. Bye bye. If you enjoyed Leslie, you might enjoy her fellow blogger, Becky Clark’s masterful mysteries, also on The Joys of Binge Reading podcast. Thanks To Our Technical Support: The Joys of Binge Reading podcast is put together with wonderful technical help from Dan Cotton at DC Audio Services. Dan is an experienced sound and video engineer who’s ready and available to help you with your next project… Seek him out at [email protected] or Phone + 64 – 21979539. He’s fast, takes pride in getting it right, and lovely to work with. Our voice overs are done by Abe Raffills, and Abe’s another gem. He got 20 years of experience on both sides of the camera/microphone as a cameraman/director and also voice artist and television presenter. Abe’s vocal delivery is both light hearted and warm and he is super easy to work with no matter the job. You’ll find him at [email protected]

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